For decades, experts have forecast that, as the world became increasingly
"wired," video-phones, tele-conferencing, inter-active 3-D TV and
other telecommunication miracles would eventually reduce the need for people to
travel. Today, as the Internet has grown to become a global "I-Way"
linking all nations, the American Express Company reports that tele-conferencing
has, in fact, been reducing business travel in the U.S. by 1% per year since the
early 1990’s. However, projected global economic growth will vastly exceed the
effects of cyber-travel, and will sustain travel and tourism as the world’s
largest industry well into the 21st Century.

Meanwhile, the penetration of commerce and economic development into the most
remote localities of the world will also vastly increase the diversity of choice
and the complexity of detail confronting business and recreational travelers
alike. As more and more companies and communities around the world compete for
trade and tourism, the crucial campaigns in the "place-wars" of the
21st Century will be fought in cyber-space, and the winners will be those who
use the new info-structure to build close, collaborative relationships among
consumers and suppliers. In this illustrated presentation, Futurist David Pearce
Snyder will take the audience on a guided tour of the principal innovations by
which the travel and tourism industries will, over the next 10 years, improve
the value of their products and services.